Swim, bike, run, but not in that order...

As Amanda mentioned in her previous post, we both really fell off the wagon last week with our moves/study schedule/general life madness.  I couldn't even pop out for a quick run last week because I couldn't find my shoes or sports bras! I wore the same socks for three days, ha, but at least Sasha's toys were packed on top so she wouldn't be too traumatized by the chaos around us.

The most precious commodity of all!

That said, Monday was the start of a new leaf, and I had already scheduled in a swim with some of the NYAC folks, but was also dying to get out there and run, as the weather was half-decent, so I did a 6 mile run in Central Park and THEN the swim workout, which was surreal to say the least.  We used to always run then swim in the morning in college, but I wasn't running much due to residual injuries from a broken leg, and also, when I was finally back up and running, I had the benefit of youth.  No small thing to take into account, I am realizing!

Anyway, I actually felt good during the run (probably because I was so RESTED), but when I jumped in the pool, I literally felt like I weighed 700 pounds! It was a struggle to get "up" on top of the water and gain any sort of speed, but about halfway it finally picked back up, phew. Not that swimming after running is anything relevant for the Ironman per say, but being able to transition your body from one thing to the other is a key element, even if it is in reverse order!

Yesterday, I finally got my trainer set up in the new place and popped the bike up on that for about an hour.  Now that hurt! I was sore as could be this morning, but our training plan begins in earnest 3/1, so I guess I should get used to the feeling!  Amanda and I are settling on a formal plan in the next few days or so for the "8-month-out" marker.  Crazy!

Nothing Like a Track Workout

Nothing like a track workout to make you feel...out of shape and slow! Knowing today's weather was going to be warm, I got myself out of bed this morning at a VERY early 1030 to go do a track workout before I came to the library to learn all about the kidney.  My warm up is running to the local middle school about a mile away and then stretch before my workout.  I know you are all very surprised that the word "stretch" voluntarily enters my post, but the only reason I stretch before track workouts is because I'm just trying to put the actual workout off a little bit longer hahaha, not for the good of my body or anything like that.

After wasting as much time as possible, I finally started my track workout.  I decided to do my favorite workout as it is the shortest time wise, but really works on my speed.  It is usually repeats of 400 fast then 400 recover, 200 fast then 200 recover, on the 1:30 and 0:45 respectively for the fast runs.  I can usually get 6 or 7 of these repeats in before wanting to die and before I start to miss my intervals, but today I only managed a measly 4 before I decided to call it quits and prevent embarrassing myself in front of the model airplane flyers that are ALWAYS there when I do track workouts, no matter what time or day it is.

Now I knew going into this workout that I am uber out of shape because, well, you can't really stay in shape if you don't workout...which is exactly what has happened to both Jessica and me in these past weeks.  School, moving, work, etc. have really shut down our workouts.  But if I ever needed a kick in the but this track workout really did it for me.  And the fact that the IronMan is only 8 months away is really quite terrifying!  Ah well, like the beginning of the blog said, there's nothing like a track workout to kick your ass, to show you you are out of shape, to give you a wake up call, to make you sore only an hour later, etc. etc.  I'm sure you all can think of more things a track workout can do to you.  Despite all my moaning and groaning about track workouts, I actually do enjoy them every once and awhile because they break up the monotony of long runs and can really make you feel fast!

Moving > IronMan

I am going to come out and say it.  Moving > Planning a Wedding. At least in the latter people are trying to make it "the best day of your life" instead of the worst.  And whereas I've moved a lot in the past, it was never with another person (plus a dog), nor did I ever have anything of real value, whereas now I have adult furniture, kitchen gear, fine china, and a piano (and don't even talk about my Cervelo...I moved that myself!)

I might even venture as far as saying Moving/buying a place/renovations > IronMan. And I've never even done an IronMan, but here's why I think the above. 

IronMan: Friendly and perky volunteers offering you water and snacks
Moving: Angry Georgian men telling you that you have too much stuff. 

IronMan: Expensive, but it is a set fee and sometimes money goes to charity.
Moving: Expensive, plus lots of hidden fees.  Cash only. No charity.

IronMan: Staged in some faraway, potentially exotic, place.  No danger presents itself to my floors of any kind.
Moving: Puts a giant hole in one of the bedroom floors even though they were perfect 2 days ago when the contracts did their final walk-through.

IronMan: Blister and chafing potential is huge.  But that is why the good Lord gave us BodyGlide.
Moving: Blister and chafing potential is huge.  Plus cuts on hands.  Too bad I've packed my BodyGlide.  And my band-aids.

IronMan: A very long day, but wow, won't I feel triumphant in the end!
Moving: A very long day, and now I can't find any clean clothes, dishes, cups, soap, or towels.  Also, toiletpaper.

Alpine training and rentry

While Amanda was being a dutiful granddaughter and flying across the country to see our grandparents (I am going in March/April), I was being a decadent newlywed with the husband and taking an impromptu trip to Austria.  We had cashed in all of our American Express points and got two tickets to Vienna, which for me, is the city of joy.  It's purely subjective, but "to me, it is perfect," to crib off of "Love Actually."  Don't get me wrong, I love New York, and London, Paris, Saint Petersburg, are all fantastic, but Vienna has this strange combination of being a manageable size, not too crowded, aesthetically beautiful, filled with history, and the music is right up my ally.  I'm a huge classical music nerd, from Opera to symphony, to string quartets (in Mozart's house, natch) and solo piano, with a bit of ballet tossed in for flavor, it was all within walking distance from our hotel.  Heaven!

The hillllls are alive!

And it isn't like I couldn't get all of that in NYC, but you just don't, because wherever you live in your real life, you're too busy doing all the things that accompany real life (work, laundry, family obligations, social obligations, TRAINING), but when on a mini vacation, you can! So we did.  And it was perfect! I would do runs around the Ringstrasse, around the Opera House and Hapsburg palaces by day, with some museum-ing after lunch, and then shower, nap and music in the evening.  This is why it is my city of joy!

One thing that put a bit of a damper in my Viennese jaunt was the fact that after a few days in Vienna we were scheduled to go into the Alps for skiing.  Skiing is my nemesis.  I stink at it, am terrified to death of it (hence the stinking, and then therefore more fear, etc. etc.), and the knee on the leg that I broke a few years ago has always been a bit wobbly.  It's never given me any problems running, but it is just a bit unstable when it comes to sudden side-to-side movements or something, and will pop out and then pop back in.  It hurts like crazy, and can happen at the weirdest times (once it happened while I was jumping up during a funny picture), and so I was skittish about it happening on skis with the IronMan on the horizon, as one day, it is going to pop out and not go back in.

I love these babies!

But when we got to Saint Christophe, the conditions were insane! And they don't groom their slopes in Europe, and after 3 days of non-stop, white-out snow, the hubs said that it was going to be way to hard for me to ski...he could barely manage, and he's good! So we went snow shoe-ing, which was AWESOME! The Alps are so gorgeous, and this way, I could actually enjoy them instead of sweating buckets of fear, AND get a good cardio workout in the process! The snow was almost up to my waist, so snow shoeing was quite challenging, and also the lack of skiing meant I would just hang out in the "Fitness Center" and do runs on the treadmill (shorter ones, since the altitude would kill me after about 5K), and then lots of pushups, squats, lunges, and knee/joint strengthening exercises, and the like.  I was as sore as a mofo afterwords--and by the end, my lungs felt strong!

When I got back to NYC/sea level, I went for a seven mile run and felt great, despite being on a plane for the entire day prior, and now it is back in the saddle for real.  I had essentially one last big romantic trip and now my main relationship will probably be with my bike for the next eight months. And one thing this did reinforce for me is to keep up the "dryland"/strength training for the ol' joints on the side in addition to focusing on the aerobic base.

Run in CA

Happy Chinese New Year to all!  It is now the year of the snake, which I think bodes well for our IronMan in Arizona as there are probably lots of snakes in Tempe right?  Anyways, I went on a run in California this past weekend while visiting my grandparents for Chinese New Year.

Of course I stopped to take a picture!

It was pretty warm in Sacramento compared to DC, so I boldly chose to only wear shorts and a t-shirt while running.  Perhaps not the best choice, as I was freezing cold by the end of the run, but during the middle parts, it felt great to not be bundled up in a zillion layers!  It was just a really quick 45 minute run, as I really wanted to maximize the time I spent with my grandparents the 36 hours I was there (I spent 10 hours flying there and back for those 36 hours!) and I had to already waste some of those hours sleeping haha.  Even though the run was only 45 minutes, I was reminded how much I love running there!  It is always so fun to run along this little canal network near my grandparents house because there is lots of wildlife!  Lots of ducks, birds, and turtles are just waiting for people to throw them seeds and bread.  Unfortunately I didn't think to bring bread on my run, but next time I'm in Sacramento I definitely will!

Hopefully I will be upping my workout intensity in a couple weeks because I don't have anymore gross anatomy dissections, but now that I'm actually looking at my calendar, it seems that school is only going to start ramping up in intensity. Boo.  I guess I'm going to have to look over Jessica's post on "life balance"!